Author: Stuart

You might think it’s marketing suicide to tell your prospect that “this product might not be for you”.

But more often than not, this little trick can increase response dramatically!

Have you ever seen on a sales letter phrases that go “for serious marketers only” or “don’t buy this product if…”?

This is what copywriters call “qualifying your prospect”

And it works because it’s a type of reverse psychology. It throws the reader off…it makes them think “huh? now I’m not allowed to get this? oh yes I am!” and it ups their urge to want the product that much more.

On the other hand, this idea is also related to the 80-20 rule.

The 80-20 rule is a universal rule…it can be related to anything in life, time management, and business.

For this example, we’ll say that 80% of our sales will come from only 20% of those targeted to our offer. The remaining 20% of our sales will come from the remaining and bigger 80% of our audience.

We know that a 100% conversion rate is not going to happen..ever. Not everyone that sees your sales letter will buy. So what’s the point of trying to target everyone? You only really want the 20% who are suitable for your offer.

Narrowing down your suitable customers and talking to that 20% qualifies them. Stating that this product may not be for everyone qualifies them.

For example….
“this product is not for lazy people…it takes some work to get the results”…

“this product is not you you if you’re looking for a quick fix… you must understand that it takes time to see the results, but the results are well worth the wait…blah blah..”

This is the way to really pin point your prospects situation and talk to them directly. It quickly gets rid of the chaff..which doesn’t matter because the other 80% isn’t as significant.

You’ll get much better response from the 20% if you can get into them and target them with accuracy. And you can do that by qualifying them.

As a beginner online marketer or affiliate marketer you are probably coming to realize that you need to write more persuasive copywriting for your email ads and other promotional material so you can sell more stuff and make more money.

Learning copywriting for beginners isn’t that hard. The basics of copywriting are easy to undertand and you’ll see that they make sense.

Here are a few essential copywriting for beginners tips…

Benefits. And lots of them! The people you are trying to sell to are only interested in one thing..and that’s W.I.I.F.M. (what’s in it for me). So make sure you are highlighting the benefits of the product or service.

Use the words “You” and “I”. Some copywriters will say that you should strictly use “you” and never use “I” in your copywriting. I would say that “I” is just as important because it gives the reader a feeling that a real person wrote the letter. Of course you need to address them as “you” when you are telling them the benefits for example “this is what it can do you for you!”

Make it easy to read. The layout of any piece of copywriting must be easy to read and understand. People don’t want to spend time reading trying to work out what your offer is all about. Don’t write long sentences, don’t use words that only brain surgeons and physics professors can understand.

Strong call to action. Once you present your offer, you need to tell them exactly what to to get it…and why they need to get it now! Tell them to “order now”, or “click on this link now” and tell them how horrible their life will be if they don’t! Your chances of getting those who don’t take action the moment they see it to come back at a later date and take it are extremely low (less than 0.5%) so make your first chance count!

These are the most important copywriting for beginners tips I think will help you the most when you are just starting out.

Or maybe it’s just a habit of us humans – but we have a tendency to presume that everyone already knows what we’re talking about.

In marketing, presumption is a huge killer!

Just because you may be an expert, does NOT mean that everyone else is…not even those who you think are your perfect target market.

So instead of presuming…it’s better to assume that people know much less than you think they know…and the reality is it’s even less than that!

The best way to get your message across without going over your prospects heads is to apply the K.I.S.S. factor in all of your marketing messages…

K.I.S.S. stands for….

Keep

It

Simple

Stupid

The KISS factor applies to all things educational….because when something is simply explained, we can understand it better.

Copywriting essentially is this…to educate people about an offer that will make their lives better.

People are lazy…so if something is too complicated for them, it’s easier to just skip it and move on to the next thing.

It’s the same thing with your copywriting…when your prospect sees your offer….your words…they have to be able to understand it quickly or else it’s out with your ad and in with the next.

– Here are some tips to keep your copywriting simple…

Use simple vocabulary…one rule I and other copywriters live by is to make sure the vocabulary is simple enough for a junior high school student. Especially when you’re writing about a topic with a lot of specialized terminology, you still need to choose words that a complete beginner to that topic can understand.

Use short sentences…and space out your lines. I mentioned white space and other design tips in my last post..but again, people would much prefer to read short sentences than long ones. The less they have to think, the more chance you have of keeping their interest.

Present the offer clearly…for what it is. Call apples, apples…oranges, oranges. If you’re trying to twist words around to make it sound more appealing…or hid something to create mystery…it can have the opposite affect. Your prospects just want to know what it is they’re getting and how it’s going to help them. They don’t care about how fancy you can string your words together.

Keep it precise. Stay on topic. The moment you go off on an unrelated topic, you’ve lost them. This includes writing too much as well. One great copywriter once said something like “each line of copy is there only to urge people to read the next line” so be careful of writing anything that will throw your prospect because you miss the mark with just one off-target line of copy!

KISS is important to remember in copywriting and all aspects of marketing.

There may be times when you feel stupid writing such basic copy but the copy is not there to entertain you or feed your ego….instead it’s to educate your reader about the benefits and to urge them to take action as simply as you can.

It has been said that the “p.s.” is the second most read part of a sales letter behind the headline.

I can’t verify that statement to be true but I know that I always read or at least glance at the P.S. on sales letters and in emails. I always include one on my sales letters and emails and I urge you to do so too.

A sales letter without a P.S. is incomplete and your sales will drop!

You can test with and without a P.S. but I am confident that if you leave a p.s. out, your conversions will suffer.

People expect to see a P.S. and if there isn’t one, they feel something is missing.

Also, a P.S. is there to give that final push to buy to those who might otherwise be a lost customer.

What to write in a P.S.?

Your P.S. should summarize your offer and push one last time for the sale.

A prospect should be able to get the main gist of your offer and why they need to get your offer now just from reading your P.S.

Do you need a P.P.S.?

A P.P.S. can be used to further create that urgency and get them to buy now. If your offer is limited, then restate the terms of the offer at so they know they will be at a loss if they leave without buying it now.

Warning:

Some copywriters go over board with the P.S.’s and end up with half a page of P.P.P.P.S. that is mostly dribble and smothered with yellow higlighting.

Your P.S.’s need to be compact and compelling. People read the P.S. for those reasons so keep it short for maximum effectiveness.